Rise -I'll Care For You-
by SLITH
Summary: Sofia gets a nasty bug, Lara comes to her village to care for her. Set after "Tomb Raider -Rise" my other fanfic.
Muscles are aching, head is pounding at her right temple, every time she tries to get up she finds herself getting spacey, balance is off, no hunger, no thirst and feeling weak. Sofia lies in her bed, under her covers feeling a hot flash coming on and throws her cover off to notice that she is again covered in sweat.

Groaning she closes her eyes as Jackie comes into the building holding a large bowl with a cloth on the rim, beaded sweat on her forehead as she clutches at her pillow, shaking ever so slightly.

Jackie moves next to her and freshens up the cloth with cool water before ringing it out and dabbing at her head, "you've got a nasty bug sweetie," she whispers and Sofia nods slowly.

Placing her right hand onto her head, Sofia groans as she rolls onto her back, "yeah… but how's everyone else?"

Smiling down at her, "you seem to have gotten it the worst, some of the kids have it, a couple of the elders, and everyone is being forced to stay in their beds like you. Get your rest; I'll have food brought to you shortly."

Shaking her head slowly, "keep the food for the others, I'll be okay, I'm really not hungry," Sofia responds as she turns to have her back facing the wall. She closes her eyes as Jackie lifts the thin sheet to go over Sofia to try and help comfort her.

Standing up, Jackie leaves the bowl there and walks to the front door, opening it her eyes fall on Lara and she smiles. Taking in the bowl of fresh broth in her hands and a cover for her eyes. "I'm happy you are here sweetie," Jackie says and Lara blushes as she nods.

"I also brought some medicine, I've already distributed it to the others who are sick," Lara says, she knows that they have their own remedies, and that they've never had these kinds of doses so she made the doses just a little smaller than normal to be safe for the first go of it.

Jackie steps aside to allow Lara to go into the small house; Lara feels her heart sinking at the sight of Sofia's condition. How tiny she looks, vulnerable, shaking due to her body being unable to regulate her body temperature. Lara takes a seat the same stool Jackie was sitting on, she pulls out the eye cover and gently places it over her head in the hopes that eliminating the light from her vision to help her head.

Sofia groans and rolls onto her back, Lara dabs the cloth into the bowl and rings it out as Jackie had done earlier and then she dabs it on each of her cheeks. Smiling just a small bit, Lara dabs it along her neck line before lifting it to her forehead and dabbing there.

"Can you sit up for me a bit?" Lara asks softly, not wanting to hurt her head any further or her ears.

Shifting to use her elbows to help push herself into a sitting position, Lara helps her get comfy, once she is sitting up, Lara takes out a Day Quill and pours water into a cup. "I'm going to give you something to take, trust me they'll help and then we'll get some broth into you, and no buts about it," Lara smiles as she can see that Sofia cocks her head in a 'seriously?' way.

Opening her mouth, Lara places the pill onto her tongue and holds the cup to her lips to take a couple of sips.

"I don't need to be babied… I'll be fine," Sofia says, trying to sit up straight but failing miserably as she starts to cough harshly. "Damn… that hurt," she places her right hand onto her forehead as it started pounding again from the coughing.

"I'm not going to baby you," Lara places the cloth back into the bowl and rinses it before dabbing at her cheeks, jaw and neck lightly, "I'm going to take care of you. Now open your mouth, I'm going to give you some chicken broth."

Lara smiles to herself when Sofia opens her mouth again and she takes a small scoop of it, sees some steam rising off and blows on it gently before placing it into her mouth. Sofia seals her lips over the spoon and allows Lara to pull it out before swallowing, before she knows it Sofia starts coughing harder and bends over while clutching at her chest.

Standing up to kneel in, Lara rubs her back to try and help comfort her, when Sofia stops she clutches her forehead with both hands, groaning at the growing headache. "Try and take at least two more, and then I'll let you get your rest, okay?

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her lungs and the pain that is growing in her chest from so many harsh coughs, she nods. Lara scoops up another spoon of broth and blows on it lightly before lightly pressing the edge to Sofia's lips. Her lips part slowly as she takes the spoon and then the next one without any difficulty.

Sofia then uses her hands and shifts to her elbows to lower herself, once she is down; Lara takes the bed cover off and grabs a fresh light one from the shelving unit at the end of the bed. Opening it up she shakes it out to fully unfold it and lays it on Sofia carefully.

Taking her seat again, Lara watches Sofia get comfy and within minutes fall asleep at long last, her shaking calms down considerably, her breathing regulates and she finally looks relaxed. Five minutes later Jackie comes walking in with a fresh bowl of chicken soup for Lara, smiling at seeing Sofia being taken care of by the one person she talks about almost every day when she isn't there.

"Thanks, I got her to take a few spoons before she had a harsh coughing fit," Lara whispers, not daring to wake Sofia.

Jackie nods, "it's good to get little bits into her, need to feed the immune system so it can fight this bug, if you need anything, just give a holler," she takes the last of the broth from Lara. She only had a partial scoop as they both knew Sofia wouldn't be able to take much.

* * *

Chest is heaving as Sofia throws up into a puke bowl being held by Lara while Lara holds her hair back, Sofia slept for most of the day, it is now 2:00 a.m. and shortly after waking she got the chills again before warning Lara that she felt she was going to be sick.

Not much came up, mostly dry heaving, some of the broth but not the pill, "there you go, easy Sofia, I've got you," Lara lets her sit herself back again and sees that tears had fallen while she was heaving. Frowning, Lara takes her cup of water and holds it to her lips, "here, take a sip and spit it out."

She did as she was told, took a mouthful and spit it out into the bowl Lara held up for her, her breathing shaky as she does it, she trembles as the sweat on her body feels the cool night air. "Can I have a sip of the water, please?" Sofia asks in a weak voice, resting her head back, her eye cover still on.

"Of course," Lara sets the bowl down before picking up the cup and placing it to her lips, "you should take another pill," she waits until Sofia closes her lips to stop drinking and sets the cup down to grab a NyQuill. She'd already instructed Jackie an hour earlier on what to give the other villagers, she lightly presses the pill to Sofia's lips to watch her open and take the pill into her mouth.

Placing the cup to her lips again Sofia takes a couple mouthfuls and then sighs when she is done, "if you aren't careful, you're going to catch my bug," and Lara smiles even though Sofia can't see it.

"Then you'll just have to take care of me if it comes down to it," Lara watches Sofia smile before moving to lie down again, grabbing the water bowl, Lara places the cloth into it to refresh it.

Placing the rung out cloth onto her cheeks again, upper neck, lower neck, she dabs along the neckline to have Sofia reach her left hand up to take Lara's and lift it to her forehead.

"Ooooh that feels better," Sofia sighs happily before giving a small cough and wincing a little.

"I'm not leaving your side," Lara promises to see a smile creep along Sofia's lips before she doses off.

Lara leaves the cloth there on her head to pick up the puke bowl and take it out of the house and dump it in the nearby garden before rinsing it with clean water that was set aside by Jackie for such an occasion. Smiling to herself, Lara rubs the back of her neck before going back into the house, she had set up one thick fur blanket on the floor and had taken another as a blanket, lying on the floor just a couple of feet away from Sofia's bed. Tucking her left hand under her head, feeling the soft furs under her chin as she looks up at Sofia, sleeping soundly again, she smiles to herself.

* * *

Sofia's ears pick up the sound of children laughing, giggling, shouting and this brings a smile to her face, opening her eyes she blinks in confusion as to why it's dark and then feels the soft cotton material over her eyes. Reaching up, she tugs the eye cover down, letting it rest around her neck; planting her palms onto the mattress she pushes herself to sit up.

Looking to her right she is surprised to see Jackie sitting there, "how're you feeling?" Jackie asks and Sofia takes a moment to assess herself.

Swallowing, "my headache is gone… I'm actually feeling pretty good and a little hungry," Sofia smiles at her, but then she looks at her confused. "I had the strangest dreams last night."

Tilting her head to the side, curious, "what did you dream about?"

Giving a small laugh, Sofia looks down at her lap, blushing a tad; being pale from still being sick shows it off well. "I dreamt Lara was taking care of me…" she frowns then, "she was getting me to take medicine, drink some water, keeping me cool…" she runs her fingers through her hair and sighs.

The door across from her opens and to her surprise, Lara steps in with a loaf of bread and jam, the knife handle between her teeth. "You're awake!" Lara says, but it comes out muffled and Sofia looks at her confused.

"Lara's been by your since yesterday evening, she just left to get you some food that'll be easy on your stomach," Jackie explains and Sofia's jaw drops.

Shifting in her seat as Lara moves to her little table to cut off a slice of bread and spread some jam on it, "but… how?" Sofia asks and Lara chuckles as Jackie beams at her proudly.

"I used your phone, I've seen you use it enough to figure out how to reach her," Jackie says as Lara walks over with the slice of break cut in half and the crust cut off.

Holding the slice to Sofia, Lara smiles at her, "once I heard I made flight arrangements, got some medical stuff packed and ran out the door," she watches Sofia take a bite and listens to her moan in enjoyment at the flavours in her mouth.

Taking her queue, Jackie stands up and leaves, but not before stopping in the doorframe to see the children running by, kicking a ball around.

Swallowing the piece of bread with jam, Sofia watches Lara take a seat on the stool and watch her, "you really came all this way… to take care of me?" She watches a smile form on Lara's lips.

Lara's eyes brighten as she blushes a bit, reaching out to caress Sofia's right cheek and lightly stroke her cheek, "of course, I'll be here for you when you need me," Sofia smiles at this and moves her face into Lara's hand.

"It's nice to know I can count on you like this," Sofia says as she closes her eyes briefly and looks into Lara's eyes.

"Always."

The End.

* * *

I wrote a story like this for Criminal Minds after I was sick with a nasty bug. While I was sick with my recent bug, I decided I'd write one for Lara and Sofia. I hope you enjoyed it, please review and keep reading ^_^

Finished Friday March. 25th at 9:10p.m.


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